Life In NYC

Luckily, I don’t have to say it’s been many years since I was here. Last summer I decided, rather suddenly, to take a A Four Year Vacation from NYC. I quit my job, packed my stuff, wrote about What I Will Miss About NYC and What I Will NOT Miss About NYC, loaded up the […]

My last few days in NYC were busy and stressful and difficult, but also amazing and illuminating. I spent several days feeling loved, appreciated and valued. Wednesday, the 23rd, my boss took me and some coworkers out to dinner.. FOR ME. 🙂 Since I expect Japanese food to be something I will desperately miss, we […]

Men peeing in public The smell of subway station stairways on a hot, summer day Movie sets. Freaking movie people filming “on location” and getting in the way of real life Getting parking tickets outside my apartment whenever I rent a car Noise, noise, and more noise. Construction noise. 18-wheel truck noise. Making sure Snick […]

Most of all… my friends, of course: work friends, Shiba friends, neighborhood friends, miscellaneous friends Meeting random new, interesting people at least once a week when I’m out with Snickers. I doubt that many people are out and about at 11pm in the suburbs of Indianapolis. The not so random, wonderful people I get to […]

At least that is how I am thinking of it. Let’s please not call it “leaving NYC.” <sigh> I moved here 21 years ago, still a teenager and totally in awe of everything around me. I made the mistake of leaving in 1991 and spent the next few years desperately trying to find my way […]

hmmmm… How can there be a show with that name and it not be about Snickers??? 😛 And apropos to absolutely nothing, I just had to find an NYPD officer to haul the big, drunk guy off my front step so I could get inside with the dogs at the end of our walk. Best […]

I can… which explains a lot about why I have been working for the same firm for five years. When I was younger, my average tenure at a job was about 18 months. That is roughly how long it takes for me to learn, master, and become bored with a job. The first place I […]

Late Sunday night – after midnight – has always been one of my favorite times to walk Snickers. Other than Christmas Day or in the middle of a blizzard, this is the quietest time to go for a walk in my neighborhood. Last night, Snick and I were enjoying a quiet minute on “rat plaza” […]

Fat people meandering along on the sidewalk bother me. Umbrellas in my face really bother me. But, FAT PEOPLE WITH UMBRELLAS??? AUGH! Edit after the fact: I’m not talking about any and every overweight person and I shouldn’t have written the post the way I did, but since I don’t normally believe in editing or […]

NYC Shiba Rescue has been around for less than a month and we just took in our third foster dog, Sabrina. Surely there won’t always be so many…? Finding foster homes – and then adoptive homes – at this rate is practically a full time job. And, in case you don’t know, I already HAVE […]

So… all that Shiba Rescue stuff I was babbling about during my vacation? Consider it the birth of NYC Shiba Rescue. We’re a group of about 10 people so far. We’re having our first meeting next weekend. We’ll probably incorporate so we can get non-profit status and also receive the New Hope list that AC&C […]

So, I’m supposed to be on vacation this week. All I’ve done is work. It’s good though. It’s (1) getting a bunch of past due hanging-over-my-head freelance stuff done and (2) doggie rescue stuff. What have I been up to since my last post? Well, let’s see. Mon, April 2: Snick and I slept late […]

I’ve been busy. OK? Just busy, that’s all. Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to since my pre-cocktail pawty post. March 18, 19, 20: Scrambled furiously to complete preparations for the pawty. Tues, March 20: Made contact with a blogger in Georgia that posted about dumping her 4 year old Shiba at […]

A couple weeks ago, the NYC Shiba Inus and their Human Companions (that’s our Meetup Group name), held its first inter-breed meetup. We got together with The Beagle Pack. There were about about 40 dogs there and they had a blast. This video was posted by a Shiba meetup member today and the choice of […]

Those of you outside NYC probably don’t realize there is a RAGING debate going on here about off-leash time in the city parks. Even so, I think any dog person can appreciate this Op Ed in the Times today. I’ve said for years that having dogs somehow makes us more human… Op-Ed Contributor My Life […]

Miss ~T~ and I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden for the first time last month. A friend that lives in Brooklyn invited us out to visit the Garden and have dinner w/her in Park Slope. We almost never venture into the boros unless we’re headed to the airport, but we make exceptions for friends. […]

I have a lot to be thankful for, but this is not a long, sappy post listing all those things. This is just to say that I really love my friends and I’m so happy to finally be living in the version of New York City that I was headed for when I left the […]

subtitled Bye Bye (for now) to Benedict and Kaos Benedict and Kaos have a 3pm flight out of LGA to Miami. TODAY. They’re getting out of here before it gets cold again!!! I’m so happy for them. They were sleeping in various places (like ATM vestibules) that couple weeks when it was so cold. The […]

If you live in the city and you don’t go to the flea market, you don’t know what you are missing. You really should check it out. First, there is Chuck. He makes benches, stools, and desks from reclaimed wood and they are incredible. I bought one – custom made to the size I needed […]

Periodically, on my way to work, I see a woman walking two older dogs, I think one is a Yorkie and the other, a Maltese. I don’t know how often I pass her – maybe not so often – but periodically for over 3 1/2 years is enough to have a sense of recognition. I […]

If you could see my to do list… we’ll you would likely cry with sympathy. Saturday morning, I made three lists: mine, ~T~’s and ours. T even added a few things to hers after I finished. It was a very aggressive collection of to do items, but I must say that T and I did […]

Sorry it has taken a week to get around to writing this post. I’m working too much and sleeping too little. I think my brain is too tired for anything coherent, so I’ll just bullet point the vet visit and what I learned about Benedict last Saturday. K? K. The vet said Kaos is quite […]

I’m porting the blog to WordPress and redesigning the templates sometime in the next couple months. Fun fun. I received some photos last week from a high school reunion that was held this summer. (I’ve never made it home for one.) I’m sad to say I only managed to recognize 4 people out of about […]

First, it turns out that Benedict spells her name Kaos and it’s not just a cute misspelling. It’s an acronym! Kicks Ass On Spot, which is just that much cuter to me really because she’s such a sweet dog. Secondly, here are a couple pictures of the two of them. Click to embiggen, as Lachlan […]

Best. Lunch Break. Ever. A (gay, male) coworker alerted me to the existence of National Underwear Day this morning. He and I made a lunch date and strolled the few blocks to Times Square to get our ogle on. As we were leaving, I thought “oh… blog. photos. cell phone. duh!” Unfortunately, my […]

No no, not a yurt shaped like a pentagon! This morning I was thinking about yurts again. (For those of you that are relatively new to my blog, I do that occasionally.) The new train of thought started at the dog run a few evenings ago. An acquaintance was talking about buying land upstate and […]

This was a recent IM conversation with a friend of mine. A few mingled side conversations have been erased to protect the not-so-innocent. me: I’m thinking again of moving. I realize more and more that the things I do now are not unique to NYC like they used to be. I am paying a fortune […]

There’s a battle going on in NYC regarding off-leash time in the parks. The Parks Dept. allows dogs to be off-leash in many large public parks (that don’t have dog runs) before 9:00 AM and after 9:00 PM. (Sadly, as any fellow Shiba owned will tell you, I can not take advantage of this cool […]

~T~ is in town for the week between visiting her grandparents most of the summer and going to visit her dad for a couple weeks, so I took today and tomorrow off work to hang with her. We’d just come home this afternoon after manicures and pedicures and I was checking my email before dashing […]

I just got spit on. On purpose. By a bum in the street. Across at least SIX FEET of sidewalk that was between him and me. When I looked back, he looked very self-satisfied. You’ll all be VERY proud of me though. I managed to hold my tongue. I walked away and looked for a […]

Snickers and I met a homeless man this weekend named Benedict. He has a 6 month old puppy named Chaos. Chaos is one well-kept, good looking dog and she is clearly devoted to Benedict. He said he took her from a man that was training her for the dog fights. (For those of you that […]

A fellow New York dog owner, Amanda Soto (and her dog Butch, of course), started a group on Dogster recently called "NYC – Let me get on that train!" It did not take long for that group to start growing! Long story short, discussion was had and then Amanda did a lot of work to […]

I work on Fifth right by 42nd. Even though we’re on the 27th floor of our building, we can hear the bagpipes on St. Pat’s morning before the parade. I make a point not to go outside any time there is a parade or event on Fifth, so I haven’t been out since I got […]

I don’t normally like to walk Snickers around Times Square, but he tries to take me that way 2 or 3 times a week for some reason. If he pulls that way on a Sunday night, I will relent. It’s really quite empty and quiet late Sunday night. So, yes, Snick and I walked through […]

AUGH! NYC is COVERED in snow and it’s WONDERFUL!!! Snick and I spent almost two hours outside this morning running around and diving through snow drifts. We finally made it to the dog run and there were other dogs there and Snick had SO MUCH FUN running around playing chase in the snow. He’s a […]

A list of things I never seem to have time enough to do: Chilling with ~T~ Chilling with any of the many books I own and haven’t yet read Talking with my Daddy Networking with clients and colleagues Helping ~T~ with her homework Playing pool with my good buddy Mark Writing the posts that belong […]

Started this entry on January 1 and then forgot about it… It seemed fitting to complete and post it now. Now that I’m thinking of leaving. I had New Years Day brunch with my friend Mary earlier today. Both of us spent time outside the city during the holidays. We have also both lived in […]

My lease renewal came last week. 1 year? 2 years? Move? We’ve been in this apartment for almost 3 years. It’s very small, but it’s cozy. We have everything pretty much the way we want it. We’re happy here. It’s convenient AND the rent will still be reasonable even with a two year renewal. On […]

When I went out to walk Snick Dog this morning, the streets were practically empty due to the heavy restrictions on driving into the city during the strike. I have to say it was NICE NICE NICE to not be dodging the idiot B&T drivers while attempting to walk through my own neighborhood.

I’ve recently started reading this great journal about the shelter/rescue/foster/adoption situation in NYC. It really makes you think about how irresponsible society is in regards to the well being of our pets. It’s also made me guiltily think “I would help if I could,” which JUST ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH. I’m afraid I can’t foster in […]

Wow. That was wonderful. My mini me and I just got home from seeing A Soldier’s Play at Second Stage. All I can say is that it was just wonderful. Everyone in it was fabulous. The audience was so caught up in it that you could hear collective sighs, gasps, and clucks at all the […]

I wanted so badly to see A Soldier’s Play when I first read about it last month. I kept checking for tickets and checking for tickets and there were never any decent seats available. Well… it was extended and I just checked for tix and found TWO GOOD SEATS! For tomorrow night! Woohoo. Me and […]

…99% of the time you call for takeout in the city, whoever answers the phone has to run get the only person (or one of very few people anyway) who actually speaks English to take your order. Why did they answer the phone? Did they think it might be someone who (1) called the takeout […]

I just ran across this post re: tourists to our fair city. Well said!!! I’m tempted to print it out and hand it to tourists on the street. I’m always tripping over them anyway, so jamming a paper in their hand wouldn’t require any extra effort.

T and I have periodically discussed and updated our evacuation plan over the years, so when we got Snickers in January 2004, he became part of the plan. (Darn, I keep meaning to buy a doggie backpack for him; I should do that right now.) Anyway… we’ve always known most shelters won’t allow dogs and […]

Everyone keeps asking where I’m going this weekend. GOING? Why would I go anywhere??? Long, holiday weekends are the BEST time to stay home. Everyone else leaves. The neighborhood isn’t so crowded. It rocks! Honestly. Oh, and PS, if you are reading this from somewhere other than NYC, please do not take this as an […]

It’s been so hot and muggy here for the past week. I was sitting at the dog run (where else?) with my friend lulu the other day and she was telling me what a hard time she’d had getting motivated that morning. She said she "felt like a slug on heroin." That struck me as […]